


Snow

by Inkandquills, writersstudy



Series: Inktober 2019 [11]
Category: VAV (Band)
Genre: Cynophobia, In chapter 1, In chapter 2, Inktober 2019, M/M, Overcoming fears, crash, fear of dogs, just your good old fashioned snowball fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 15:16:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20996930
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inkandquills/pseuds/Inkandquills, https://archiveofourown.org/users/writersstudy/pseuds/writersstudy
Summary: Inktober 2019, Day 11!Prompt: SnowGroup: VAVPair: St. Van/JacobA: Geumhyuk didn't think he had anything to worry about. Oh, how wrong he was.M: Jacob was not happy to find it snowing in October. At first.[[PLEASE NOTE THAT WE, THE AUTHORS, HAVE NOT GIVEN PERMISSION FOR THIS WORK TO BE RE-POSTED ANYWHERE EXCEPT DIRECTLY ON AO3. IF YOU SEE THIS WORK ANYWHERE ELSE, PLEASE REPORT IT FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT AND NOTIFY US AT LIVING.LENIENTLY@GMAIL.COM. THANK YOU.]]





	1. Ashlee

Geumhyuk  _ hated _ dogs. Actually, that wasn’t true. He could admit that they were very cute, but he was  _ terrified _ of them. After being attacked by a dog as a child, he had refused to so much as be in the same room as one. He still had scars on his upper arm from where he’d been bitten, although they were covered up by a full sleeve of dark tattoos now. He’d been enabling his fear for so long now that he had not only become a full recluse over the possibility of seeing a dog, but had also had panic attacks just from the mention of the creatures.

Not many people knew that Geumhyuk had such a strong fear. In fact, the only person that knew aside from his parents was Chunghyeop, who had been his best friend since diapers. His boyfriend of three years, Peng, had no idea, but they had never even discussed getting a pet, so Geumhyuk didn’t think he had anything to worry about. Oh, how wrong he was.

“Hyung, I’m home and I brought a friend!” Peng called when he walked in the door that evening. Geumhyuk was in the kitchen finishing dinner and wiped his hands so he could step out and greet whoever Peng had brought home. 

“You should have let me know you were bringing someone home, I’m glad I made extra - what the  _ fuck _ is that?” he asked, freezing in the doorway when he saw the gray head sticking out of Peng’s coat. 

“Isn’t she so cute?” the younger man asked excitedly, “I found her in the snow with no collar on my way home and I couldn’t just leave her there. She would have frozen to death! I’m going to bring her to the vet tomorrow to see if she’s microchipped, but I figured we could give her a bath and somewhere warm to sleep for the time being.” Geumhyuk felt like he couldn’t breathe. He hadn’t been this close to a dog in years. Sure, the puppy looked harmless, but so had the dog that had attacked him so long ago.

“I’m gonna go give her a bath,” Peng said, already sweeping through the room toward the bathroom, “we’ll be back!” He lifted the puppy’s paw, waving it at Geumhyuk as he passed by. The second he heard the bathroom door close, Geumhyuk’s legs gave out and he sank to the floor, struggling to breathe. There was a dog in his house, only a couple of feet away from him. The worst part was that Peng was right. They would have to travel over an hour to find a vet clinic that was open, and the puppy would die if they tossed her back out in the snow. He just had to hope that she would be kept contained to the bathroom and not come anywhere near him. 

He managed to pull himself together enough to get up and finish making dinner. He could hear happy barks coming from the bathroom and they made him shudder every time. When he finally turned on the water to drain the pasta, he failed to notice the door opening until he felt something hit his ankle. When he looked down to see the dog with her mouth on his foot, he shrieked and jumped, dropping the pasta in the sink and pressing himself against the counter behind him. The dog let out a loud pained whined.

“What did you do?” Peng asked, scooping the puppy up and holding her to his chest.

“She bit me!” Geumhyuk cried, cringing back as his boyfriend approached him.

“She licked your ankle, hyung, and you stomped on her paw like a barbarian,” Peng said, rolling his eyes, “say sorry!”

“Say sorry? Say sorry?! I am  _ not  _ saying sorry to that thing,” Geumhyuk said, shaking his head and moving further away again. He felt something trickle down his ankle and looked down, expecting to see teeth marks and blood. Instead, all he saw was the glistening of some drool. 

“What the hell is going on with you?” Peng asked, “you’re acting like a fucking crazy person, hyung.” He tried stepping closer again, but Geumhyuk backed away until he was almost out of the room.

“Hyung, are you... _ scared _ of dogs?” Peng asked, smile pulling at his lip.

“No,” Geumhyuk said defensively, flinching when the dog whimpered. 

“You are!” Peng said gleefully, “hyung, that’s so cute!” 

“It’s not cute!” Geumhyuk snapped in annoyance, “it’s traumatizing. I can’t leave the house! I’m permanently scarred! I can’t,” he wheezed, “I can’t  _ breathe _ right now.” Peng’s face fell and his eyes widened.

“Okay, okay, hold on,” Peng said. He rushed out of the room to lock the puppy in the bathroom before coming back and helping Geumhyuk into the bedroom. 

“Hyung, you have to breathe,” he said, “come on, watch me, it’s okay. The puppy isn’t here anymore, you’re okay.” It seemed to take forever, but Geumhyuk eventually managed to calm down and breathe again. 

“Hyung, why didn’t you ever say anything?” Peng asked gently, crouching in front of his boyfriend.

“It’s embarrassing,” Geumhyuk whined, “I’m a grown man and I can’t even handle going outside because what if there’s a tiny puppy at the other end of the street? I’ll have a panic attack!” Peng frowned and placed a hand on Geumhyuk’s knee.

“I wish I had known,” he said sadly, “I would have brought her to Wooyoung’s or something.” Geumhyuk knew that. Peng would never intentionally do anything to hurt him. Down the hall, he could hear the puppy whining.

“Let’s go rescue dinner and then we can figure out what to do, okay?” the younger man suggested. He led his boyfriend to the kitchen, where they shut off the water and cleaned the now cold pasta out of the sink. Geumhyuk was too shaken up to trust himself to cook anything else and Peng couldn’t cook, so they ordered out and curled up together on the couch, legs tangled. 

“Have you always been afraid of dogs?” Peng asked gently. He laid a hand on Geumhyuk’s thigh. The older man nodded.

“When I was little, I was attacked by a dog while I was playing at a friend’s house,” he explained, “I’ve been terrified ever since. It got so bad in high school that I was clinically diagnosed with cynophobia, but the therapist suggested exposure therapy and I stopped going. The entire reason that I work from home and used to get groceries delivered is because I’m so terrified of going outside and running into a dog. It doesn’t matter how small or young, I’m still so viscerally terrified.” He was still shaking a bit and felt absolutely ridiculous. It wasn’t like he didn’t have the ability to defend himself; he was six feet tall and spent much of his free time working out. Somehow, he was still so scared of even the tiniest of puppies.

“It’s okay to be scared,” Peng said, taking and squeezing Geumhyuk’s hand, “you went through something very traumatic and I don’t blame you for being afraid.”

“It sucks,” Geumhyuk admitted, “I wish there was a way that I could work on getting over it, but the only real way is the exposure therapy and just the idea of it makes me panic.” Peng hummed and squeezed his hand again.

“What if I tried it with you?” he suggested carefully, “I can sit on the other side of the room with the puppy and you can be as close as you feel comfortable. You know I would never let anything happen to you, hyung.” The very idea of it made Geumhyuk’s heart rate pick up, but he trusted Peng and knew that the younger would never let anything bad happen to him.

“Okay,” he said in a small voice. Peng smiled and got up, leaving the room and returning with the puppy in his arms. He sat crosslegged on the floor near the television and the puppy curled up in his lap, laying her head on his thigh. Geumhyuk sat on the couch for what felt like ages. He only finally managed to get up when there was a knock on the door, signaling that their food had arrived. He got up to retrieve it and settled back down, this time on the floor. The puppy lifted her head, sniffing excitedly, before flopping her head back down. Geumhyuk’s eyes stayed on her as he unpacked the bag of food and slid Peng’s to him across the carpet.

They ate slowly and quietly. Peng was trying to eat without disturbing or exciting the puppy, container resting on the TV stand, and Geumhyuk was trying to eat with no stable surface for the flexible container. Finally, he gave up and scooted up to the coffee table. He eyed the puppy warily as she lifted her head again, this time sitting up on her front paws. 

“Can I let her come to you if she wants to?” Peng asked carefully, setting a hand on the puppy’s back. Geumhyuk nodded stiffly, trusting that Peng would follow and prevent the puppy from doing anything.

He was right. The puppy stretched and clambered out of Peng’s lap a few minutes later, wandering over to sniff curiously at Geumhyuk’s socked foot. Peng came too, scooting across the floor to join Geumhyuk at the coffee table.

“I’ve been calling her Cash,” he said conversationally, “she seems to like it.” Geumhyuk’s foot twitched and the puppy jumped back, yipping at it like it was going to hurt her. She lowered her front to the ground, butt in the air and paws out in front of her, but Peng scooped her up before she could jump at the offending toes. He dumped her back in his lap and Geumhyuk had to smile at the way her head poked up over the coffee table, sniffing curiously at the nearly empty food containers.

“Do you want to let her smell you?” Peng suggested. Geumhyuk’s hand shook violently as he extended his arm and held his fingers in front of the puppy’s nose. He flinched when she opened her mouth, but all she did was lick his hand. 

“She’s cute,” he finally said, throat feeling less choked up. Cash was small and adorable and maybe, just maybe, Geumhyuk could see this working. Peng’s face split into a grin.

“I’m really proud of you, hyung,” he said, “you took some really big steps today.” Geumhyuk smiled too. 

“If you can’t find her owner tomorrow, I-I guess it’s okay if she stays here,” he said, “we can get her a crate and hopefully, eventually, I won’t be so scared anymore.” He wasn’t sixteen anymore; he was an adult and he was ready to finally face this fear that had always been so debilitating for him. 

Three weeks later, Cash had taken up permanent residence between their feet at night and Geumhyuk found that he didn’t mind one bit.


	2. Michelle

Peng crossed his arms over his chest. It was absolutely freezing in the dorm and he wandered over to the window to investigate.

“Why the fuck is it snowing right now? It is the middle of October!” 

“Peng, would you relax please? It’s not the end of the world,” Geumhyuk said tiredly, “and it is too early for you to be yelling.” He took another sip of the cup of coffee he made for himself; he was definitely going to need another one soon. Even Cash wasn’t a fan of Peng’s yelling and huffed quietly from where she laid on her bed. 

“It is the perfect time for me to be yelling because it is snowing in the middle of October!” Peng protested. A sleepy Yoonho made his way down the stairs not long after.

“What’s all the noise about?” he mumbled tiredly. He flopped down onto the couch and curled around a pillow.

“It’s snowing!” Peng announced again. Yoonho whined and shoved his face into the pillow. Peng stood in the window, arms tight against his chest, glaring at the snow. 

“You know, that’s not going to make it stop anytime soon,” Geumhyuk said, not entirely sure that Peng understood that. The younger boy just huffed and continued to stand by the window.

“You put yourself in timeout?” Chunghyeop asked with a raised eyebrow.

“He’s having a staring contest with the snow,” Geumhyuk said deadpan. Chunghyeop rolled his eyes and ducked into the kitchen to make everyone coffee. Yoonho was still fast asleep, happily wrapped around his pillow. 

“Oh my God, will you get over here? You’re fogging up the window with your breath,” Geumhyuk said, “come sit down and we can watch a horror movie or something.” Peng pouted and turned away from the windows, arms still crossed. He took a hard seat on the couch next to Geumhyuk and whined when the older man wrapped an arm around him. Wooyoung and Hosung came down a little while later together. Hosung chuckled when he saw a pouty Peng curled in Geumhyuk’s side and took a seat next to Yoonho, slowly combing his fingers through the older boy’s hair. Having heard the yelling from upstairs, Wooyoung knew what was going on and decided not to ask again. Instead, he ducked into the kitchen to help Chunghyeop with breakfast. Heejun was the last one to make his way downstairs. He let out a gasp when he looked out the window.

“It’s snowing?” he asked excitedly. 

“Yeah. In October!” Peng pointed out. Geumhyuk reached over and covered Peng’s mouth with his hand.

“Stop complaining, you’re giving me a headache,” he said tiredly. Peng huffed childishly and pulled his face away, laying back down on his boyfriend’s chest. Yoonho was finally starting to wake up. And by starting to wake up, he had sat up, crawled into Hosung’s lap, and dozed back off. 

“Can we have a snowball fight later?” Heejun asked hopefully. Peng perked up a little at that.

“If you help with the dishes,” Chunghyeop said, poking his head back into the room, “now come eat breakfast first.” Hosung helped a still sleepy Yoonho onto his feet and the group piled into the kitchen for some breakfast. Geumhyuk was sure to fill his coffee cup before slipping into his own seat.

“Peng, are you gonna come outside with us?” Heejun asked. He glanced out the window and even though the snow was starting to slow down, there was enough on the ground to have a snowball fight. Geumhyuk glanced sideways and took a sip of his coffee.

“No way. Cash and I are gonna stay warm and watch a horror movie,” Peng replied. 

“Cash isn’t staying inside with you. She loves the snow,” Chunghyeop said pointedly.

“You’ve never been one to turn down a snowball fight. Losing your edge?” Geumhyuk taunted. Hosung let out a low whistle and sat back with crossed arms. 

“I am not!” Peng insisted. He glanced around the table.

“Fine. Every man for himself. If you get hit, you’re out. Last man standing picks what we get for dinner,” he decided. Everyone around the table nodded in agreement.

“You are not going anywhere until to finish eating and help cleaning up,” Wooyoung said when Peng started to stand up. The younger boy pouted and sat back down. The rest of breakfast was spent civilly but all of that ended the minute the last dish was washed. Everyone rushed to their rooms to grab jackets, boots, and gloves, and head outside. Even Cash knew something exciting was going on because she was barking and waiting eagerly by the door. 

Heejun was the first person outside and immediately started making snowballs. The snow wasn’t very heavy so it was turning out to be a powdery mess but he was determined to make it work. As soon as the others joined him and found the state of the few inches of snow they had, they started to improvise. 

Chunghyeop grabbed a handful of snow and shoved it down the back of Wooyoung’s shirt before rushing across the yard. Cash barked loudly and chased the man across the yard, nipping playfully at his ankles. Wooyoung was too busy trying to shake the snow out of his jacket to appreciate Cash’s act of revenge on his behalf. Geumhyuk had smartly hid himself behind some of the trees on the side of the law, far away from the younger boys, trying to compact the snow to make a couple of small snowballs. Luckily everyone was so distracted that he was left unbothered. When he had a couple of snowballs made, he peeked his head out from behind the tree and waited for the right moment to strike. His eyes were locked on his target and his lips pulled into a small smirk at the thought of how mad Peng would be when he got him out. 

Yoonho was suddenly wide awake and had teamed up with Chunghyeop to try to get Wooyoung out. Wooyoung did hold his own for a little while, but not even Cash could help him avoid the double team. As the first one out, he was free to play with Cash, which was much more fun than getting chased around by two of his friends. 

While the other two were busy, Hosung was trying to form a pact with Peng. Unfortunately, the younger man didn’t like that very much and it turned into a heated battle of who could scrounge up a snowball the fastest. Peng ended up being successful, leaving Hosung to slink off to go play with Wooyoung and Cash. Just as he was about to go after Heejun, he spotted Chunghyeop and Yoonho making snowballs. Heejun seemed to have the same idea as he knelt down to make his own small snowball and then rushed after Yoonho. It didn’t take much to startle the older boy and send him off running across the yard. While Heejun was chasing Yoonho, Peng and Chunghyeop were dodging each others small snowballs. They danced around each other for a while and for a moment it almost looked like Chunghyeop had the upper hand until he threw his last snowball and it went whizzing past Peng. The younger boy smirked and chased down the older man before taking a handful of snow and shoving it against his cheek. 

“What happened to being so upset about the snow?” Chunghyeop grumbled as he wiped his cheek off. 

“I like losing even less,” Peng said with a shrug. He didn’t waste any time turning around to try and figure out who was left. When it was down to just Heejun and Peng, Geumhyuk reached for one of his snowballs. He waited until Peng was facing him before jumping up and throwing it. He watched gleefully as the snowball hit Peng right below the eye and the boy yelled out dramatically. Heejun had slid to a stop, eyes wide with surprise at the ambush that they hadn’t seen coming. Neither of them had noticed Geumhyuk hiding behind the tree. Peng wiped the snow from his face and glared at his boyfriend.

“You’re out,” Geumhyuk said with a smirk. Peng growled and raced across the yard and tackled his boyfriend to the ground. The other boys took that as a sign that the game was over and rushed around the yard, trying to pelt each other with as much snow as possible. Geumhyuk and Peng wrestled for a few minutes, both having trouble finding enough traction on the slippery grass. The older man eventually got the upper hand and laughed loudly when he finally pinned Peng’s hands to the ground. The rest of the boys didn’t even pay attention to what was happening. They couldn’t hear over Cash’s happy barking and were too distracted trying to pelt each other with as many snowballs as they could. 

“You got a little something on your forehead,” he said. He leaned down to kiss away the rest of the snow that was still stuck to Peng’s skin. 

“Do you still hate the snow?” he asked teasingly.

“Maybe,” Peng mumbled grumpily. Geumhyuk chuckled and leaned down to kiss Peng on the lips this time.

“How ‘bout now?” he asked when he pulled away. Peng huffed and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s neck. 

“Just get back down here,” he mumbled as he pulled Geumhyuk close enough to kiss him deeply. Peng quickly forgot all about the light snow still falling around them. 


End file.
